Sterilized packaging systems in which a sterile food product is placed and sealed in a container to preserve the product for later use are well known in the art. Methods of sterilizing incoming containers, filling the containers with pasteurized product, and sealing the containers in an aseptic sterilization tunnel are also known.
Liquid product fillers are known in the art. Generally, a container is placed under a filler head. The filler head opens and dispenses the liquid product. When the container is filled to a desired level, the filler head closes and stops the flow of liquid product into the container. Commonly, in line aseptic fillers use completely mechanical devices for measuring and dosing product into containers. These devices include a first apparatus for measuring the amount of material to be dispensed, and a second apparatus which functions as a filling nozzle. Typically, the first apparatus includes a piston cylinder apparatus for measuring the amount of material. The amount of material measured by the piston cylinder apparatus is limited by the diameter and stroke of the piston. The first and second apparatus include complicated mechanical members which are difficult to sterilize, clean, and maintain.
Typically, rotary fillers include multiple filling stations and allow about 7 to 15 seconds for filling. Some of the rotary bottle filers use electronic measuring devices for dosing the desired amount of product into a bottle. In order to meet FDA (Food and Drug Administration) "aseptic" standards and 3A Sanitary Standards, all surfaces of the filler that come into contact with the liquid product must be sterilized. Before filling commences, a plurality of interior parts of the filler must be removed, sterilized, and replaced. This time consuming and expensive process is necessary in order to ensure the complete sterilization of all surfaces that come into contact with the liquid product.
Packaged food products can generally be categorized as high acid products (Ph below 4.5) or low acid products (Ph of 4.5 and above). The high acid content of a high acid product helps to reduce bacteria growth in the product, thereby increasing the shelf life of the product. The low acid content of a low acid product, however, necessitates the use of more stringent packaging techniques, and often requires refrigeration of the product at the point of sale.
Several packaging techniques, including extended shelf life (ESL) and aseptic packaging, have been developed to increase the shelf life of low acid products. During ESL packaging, for example, the packaging material is commonly sanitized and filled with a product in a presterilized tunnel under "ultra-clean" conditions. By using such ESL packaging techniques, the shelf life of an ESL packaged product is commonly extended from about 10 to 15 days to about 90 days. Aseptic packaging techniques, however, which require that the packaging take place in a sterile environment, using presterilized containers, etc., are capable of providing a packaged product having an even longer shelf life of 150 days or more. In fact, with aseptic packaging, the shelf life limitation is often determined by the quality of the taste of the packaged product, rather than by a limitation caused by bacterial growth.
For the aseptic packaging of food products, an aseptic filler must, for example, use an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved sterilant, meet FDA quality control standards, use a sterile tunnel or clean room, and must aseptically treat all packaging material. The food product must also be processed using an "Ultra High Temperature" (UHT) pasteurization process to meet FDA aseptic standards. The packaging material must remain in a sterile environment during filling, closure, and sealing operations.
Many attempts have been made, albeit unsuccessfully, to aseptically fill containers, such as bottles or jars having small openings, at a high output processing speed. In addition, previous attempts for aseptically packaging a low acid product in plastic bottles or jars (e.g., formed of polyethylene terepthalate (PET) or high density polyethylene (HDPE)), at a high output processing speed, have also failed. Furthermore, the prior art has not been successful in providing a high output aseptic filler that complies with the stringent United States FDA standards for labeling a packaged product as "aseptic." In the following description of the present invention, the term "aseptic" denotes the United States FDA level of aseptic.